


Buffy the PTSD Slayer

by Tasyfa



Series: A Scattered Handful [3]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Canon Universe, Gen, Post S01, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 19:23:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21184685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tasyfa/pseuds/Tasyfa
Summary: Alex's beagle keeps a watchful eye on her human.* * * * *It seems I've finally succumbed to the practice of writing ficlets directly on Tumblr. This series is so I can actually keep track of the slippery little things, and to share with non-Tumblr people too.





	Buffy the PTSD Slayer

**Author's Note:**

> This came out of a "made-up fic title" meme, for which I wrote a ficlet based off the title given to me. 
> 
> "Buffy the PTSD Slayer" is courtesy of an anonymous ask. If I'd run with the prompt but titled it myself, it'd be called, "Extraordinary Noise".  
~ Tas

* * * * *

Ordinary sounds never woke her. Weather noise? Unremarkable. The wind could howl all it liked, and Buffy would pay it no mind. Same for regular house sounds - clinking dishes, running water. The long, even creak when the front door was opened by someone familiar with it.

None of those were worth cracking an eye open. 

No, it was the barely-there sounds that brought Buffy to attention. The tiptoeing of one who didn't belong. The whimper or sniffle that escaped when he was asleep, so so quiet as if he couldn't stop trying to control it, even then. 

She uncurled from her place at the foot of the bed, checking the motion of his chest. Steady yet; good. She padded up the bed to stand at his shoulder and leaned up to lick his cheek. Once, twice, in quick succession, then a pause for a response. 

He didn't wake so she licked him again, keeping to the same pattern, two kisses and a pause. She'd learned he responded best to regularity, predictable behaviour patterns, and so she tried to honour that whenever she could. 

Big dark eyes a lot like her own finally opened and she wagged her tail; it made him smile. Buffy didn't really smile herself, exactly, but she did find it funny as he grimaced and wiped the wet cheek. 

When she nosed at him, he sighed, but he adjusted his sleeping position to tuck her in close to his chest, and soon it was rising and falling in a steady rhythm again. 

She counted it a victory. He didn't often go back to sleep after she had to nudge him awake, but he needed to. He didn't smile enough when he was tired. 

Buffy laid her muzzle on her paws and let herself relax, cozy and warm. He would learn to sleep enough - unbroken, untroubled sleep, in time. And he would learn to cuddle enough, too. 

He was her human now. 

[Et fini]


End file.
